Under The Mistletoe
by justwr1te
Summary: It's A RIZZISLES CHRISTMAS one-shot, you voted for it, you got it! FLUFF ALERT! Jane and Maura celebrate the holidays with the Rizzoli clan and feelings are revealed! Tis the season for FEEDING YOUR BARD!


**Title: **_Under the Mistletoe_

**Author: **LJBard

**Summary: **Rizzles One-shot Christmas-y ficlet! You voted for it, you got it! Fluff-heavy.

**Disclaimer: **I own NOTHING! Please don't sue me as my Christmas shopping has already left me broker than a homeless man.

**Reviews: **Yes, PLEASE! 'Tis the season for FEEDING YOUR BARD! :)

**A/N: **As promised, Happy Holidays Rizzles lovers!

**This story is dedicated to my friends Gentry and wcduran and all my Twitter gals out there; jen_0587, 3doorsfan, dawnhelms1, MrsIpstenu, Adm_Hawthorne, AshoundBordeaux, breezy531, noGrasponRealit, HannahSky, RizzoliQuotes and if I left you out, YOU TOO! :) I hope you all enjoy this as much as I loved writing it!**

-X-

"Thought I would find you here," Jane Rizzoli stated, walking into autopsy and finding the woman she'd been searching almost all over Boston for working in her lab, surrounded by quiet darkness. Maura did not disappoint when Jane found her, elbow-deep in the body of another victim that had yet to be determined the Cause of Death.

"Then I can assume it was you calling my phone repeatedly?" Maura quipped shortly, not taking her eyes off of her work as the sound of Jane's footsteps alerted her to a closer approach. When she found what she needed, only then did she look up to see a somewhat annoyed Jane Rizzoli clad in a beautiful little black number.

Maura swallowed thickly at the radiant dress that left little to the imagination, she had seen Jane only once before wearing that dress, when she had been set up with their last boss, and Jane's childhood acquaintance, Grant.

"Did your mother set you up on another blind date?" Maura asked, almost afraid to hear the answer. Jane glowered, but it disappeared quickly as Maura avoided her gaze while asking this.

"Yes, but the real problem that is happening is that it's Christmas Eve, why are you still here at work?" Jane asked, concerned. "Everyone else has left."

"Crime doesn't take a holiday, Jane, why should I?" Maura replied coolly, ridding her gloves in the biohazard disposal before taking off her safety goggles and turning the overhead light off, ignoring Jane's question with her own as she slipped out of her booties, making her way toward her desk to finish writing up the report.

"Like Hell," Jane responded, following Maura over toward the desk. "Maura, you are _not_ going to sit here and work through the Christmas holiday, neither of us would hear the end of it from my mother!" A thud and movement beside her as Jane dropped about eight or nine brightly wrapped Christmas presents and bags onto the work desk, Maura eyed a bottle of her favorite Moscatto wine that had a bright red bow tied rather lopsidedly around it.

"Jane, I have to finish this report tonight if I don't want to work tomorrow," Maura went back to clicking the keyboard, ignoring her friend.

"Korsak and Frost are already headed toward my folks place, even Tommy may appear, though my Ma and Pop hope that will happen with every Holiday, never does, but _other_ than him, whole Rizzoli clan will be there, and Ma has told me if I even try to show up without you en route, I will be sitting in the cold watching them eat," Jane rose an eyebrow as if to prove a point. She leaned against the desk and crossed her arms defiantly.

"Jane, you're mother wouldn't do that to you, you should know better," Maura scolded, growing a bit more frustrated at her weakening resolve. She knew that if Jane continued, at this rate, Maura would wind up caving, and she didn't want that…

_Please stop, Jane, for both of our sakes, just go without me…_ Maura thought, sadly. Jane watched as a myriad of pain and hurt flashed across her best friends' eyes. Jane felt her heart lurch at the thought of her being the reason they were there.

"Maura, c'mon, my family loves you," Jane pleaded, looking as if she wanted to kneel but couldn't in her dress. Her voice grew smaller, "I hate to think of everyone else having fun while you're stuck down here doing this."

"I'm doing my _job_, Jane," Maura sighed, letting her eyes close for a moment to will the tears away as she looked back at the computer screen, she wouldn't let Jane see her cry, not right now, she couldn't even logically explain why she was hurt.

Jane had invited her, yes. But she had not yet stated that she _wanted _her to be there. What was the difference anyway?

"I like my job, and you know very well I don't do well around crowds of people-" she reasoned.

"That's a cop out if I ever heard one, you attend charity events and galas all the time that are packed with live bodies, and you never complain-" Jane grumbled, interrupting her.

Maura mulled over Jane's argument, it wasn't that she didn't want to spend time with her best friend and her family, but the past few weeks had been particularly hard for Maura, just being near or around the beautiful Detective made her concentration fly off the handle.

Now, for instance, it was taking all of her will power to not look up at Jane's pouting features without the need to grab her friends' face and kiss her until they both saw stars. Maura's heart fluttered like a hummingbird's wings at the thought, pounding wildly against her ribcage.

"Maura," Jane placed a hand on Maura's arm and froze when Maura squeaked involuntarily at the contact, jerking away as if burned. Jane felt a wave of hurt wash over her, and her eyebrows knitted together.

Maura was usually very easy to read, at least for Jane, despite the doctor having her weird quirky Google-speak, and the unbreakable dirty habit of diagnosing her dates, for the life of her, she had been finding it increasingly difficult to understand the Doctor's body language as of late.

Jane was a far cry from unobservant when it came to her best friend, she noticed shortly after their last case that had involved another of Hoyt's apprentices, Maura had grown distant, at the time, Jane understood that Maura had been more shaken than she let on about confronting and interrogating Hoyt, alongside Agent Dean, and Hoyt's words to Maura…

"_You don't scare me."_

"_I know, because you're _like_ me."_

Jane shuddered, just imagining the cold serial killers voice. She flexed her hands, gripping so tightly that her nails dug into her palms as the scars on either one began to ache at the thought of Hoyt. Jane had specifically used those hands to take Maura's and look into her beautiful hazel eyes and tell her exactly that she was _nothing,_ absolutely nothing, like Hoyt.

"Maura, please," Jane's statement came out more of as pleading question than anything. Maura, brought back to the present, lifted her eyes, briefly, to meet the mahogany ones that were laced with both hurt, comfort, and understanding. Maura shook her head, she knew that Jane was trying, she loved that about the brunette, among other things.

Jane cared. It was what made her a fantastic detective and despite Maura trying to push Jane away, trying to figure things out on her own, Jane was just unwilling to let Maura handle anything by herself. It was both aggravating as Hell, and endearing.

"Give me a few minutes to change, and I'll be ready," Maura caved. Jane's excited squeal reverberated around the morgue's empty walls and then Maura yelped as Jane pulled her up, into her arms and spun her around happily before releasing her.

"Excellent! I'll go and start the car so it gets warm before we take off," Jane smiled and leaned forward to kiss Maura's cheek. Maura, head still spinning from her close proximity to Jane and the rush of excitement swelling within her at Jane's own childlike giddiness, felt her knees begin to buckle at Jane's soft peck. She had to latch onto her desk and wait until Jane was out of the room before she could steady herself, inhaling shakily through her nose.

_What am I going to do?_ Maura thought, now worried she'd never make it through this night. _Jane is your best friend, you've been working alongside her for years, just act natural._

Easier said than done, Maura quipped internally as she headed toward her locker where she kept a few spare outfits for rare occasions if she was unable to go home before she went out.

She settled on a deep red velvet Monte Blanc dress that fell down way below her knees, the skirt was slit on each side and flowed naturally with grace. The front of the dress fell down into a V, just an inch or two shy of being inappropriate and the back she managed to zip halfway but was grateful when Jane came back down into the morgue.

Jane froze immediately at the smooth expanse of creamy skin that greeted her eyes when she saw Maura attempting to zip her dress, she swallowed thickly at the urge in her fingertips to graze the perfect curves and crevices of Maura's shapely body.

"Jane," Maura breathed, hyper aware of Jane's lustful gaze on her body, making her body feel like a livewire had just scorched her, she did not turn around as she felt her nipples harden and thanked her choice for the thick material that made it barely noticeable through the trim of the dress.

"Sorry," Jane cleared her throat, her voice raspier than usual. She walked over to Maura and slower than was necessary, inched the zipper up Maura's dress, careful not to catch any of the delicate blonde curls. Jane could smell Maura's expensive perfume; it filled her nose without even trying to breathe, making her head swim.

"Shall we?" Maura donned her wool grey overcoat and buttoned it up, effectively bringing Jane's attention back to Earth as her body was covered back up.

"You may want to wear this," Jane offered her a scarf and mittens. "It's just starting to snow…"

Indeed, it had. The snowflakes fell in bulky clusters, quickly latching onto every surface as Maura walked briskly with Jane toward the car that Jane had started, the windshield wipers were almost no match for the fat ice that dropped from the sky. Jane opened the door for Maura and waited until she was all the way inside and buckled before shutting her door and racing to get to the drivers side.

"I don't recall hearing that it was supposed to snow at all tonight," Maura breathed, reveling in the warm air as Jane crawled into the car. Maura's breath caught at the sight.

Jane's cheeks and nose were tinged red, her eyes slightly watered from the crisp wintry air. Some delicate flakes had still yet to melt into Jane's wild mane of dark hair and Maura fought the urge to reach up and brush the flakes away as Jane offered her a crooked grin.

"Maybe Santa is trying to ensure a White Christmas for us, then?" she said, pulling out of the parking lot and into the empty streets.

"You do realize that Santa Claus is merely a my-"

"_Don't _say that," Jane argued, teasingly, but still firm. "You are not allowed, for the rest of the night, to say anything that may cause disbelief in the jolly red giant!"

Maura couldn't help but laugh. And the sound was like bells to Jane's ears, it seemed as if it had been weeks, perhaps it truly had, since she had last heard Maura truly smile or laugh like she now was. Jane felt a small pang of guilt in her heart, but pushed it aside, as she smiled at the M.E. She had missed her friend, she had missed her dearly.

Jane was determined that no matter what caused the small rift between them after their last encounter with Hoyt, she would make more attempts to ensure Maura that she _was_ nothing like him. That she was simply Maura, the beautiful, brilliant, warm-hearted doctor that didn't have a mean bone in her body.

-x-

"Maura!" Angela Rizzoli beamed as she welcomed her daughter and the doctor into her home. "So glad Janie here could talk some sense into ya! Now let me take ya'll's coats and Janie, the foods ready, make yourself a plate then start introducing Maura to the family…"

Maura looked uneasy at Mrs. Rizzoli's request, but she offered her coat and followed Jane, ignoring the flutter in her heart as Jane took Maura's hand, lacing their fingers, and led her through the hall into the kitchen.

Several people that Maura had never met before were standing around, laughing, drinking, and reminiscing. She noticed Mr. Rizzoli in a heated debate with another middle-aged man that looked to almost be his twin.

"Uncle Jim," Jane remarked, following Maura's line of sight as she handed Maura a paper plate. Maura took the offered dish and looked around at the countertop that was laden with all varieties of food from baked macaroni and cheese, to Angela's famous gnocchi, to sliced turkey and cranberry sauce, a large bowl of gravy and assorted drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.

"Make yourself a plate, I have to drop these off under the tree," Jane said, still handling the gifts in her spare arm. Before Maura could protest, Jane had left her to go toward the tree, and Maura watched with interest as Jane interacted with other Rizzoli family members and friends.

She saw Korsak sitting by the tree, sporting a red and white Santa hat, teasing Joe Friday with some tinsel, Frost was in a deep discussion with Frankie, who was wearing a sprig of fake mistletoe behind his ear, and on his sweater were the words _'KISS THE ROOKIE' _no doubt a gag gift that he had found funny enough to wear for the occasion.

"I've never seen you around here before," came an almost slurred voice. Maura turned from cutting a slice of apple pie toward a man just a little older than herself, who had thick dark hair that fell down to the base of his neck and slightly glassy dark eyes. He was a bit unshaven and had a loopy grin on his face that told Maura, he was far past tipsy and wreaked of alcohol.

"I'm here as a friend," Maura stated, kind but wary as he offered to shake her hand. She almost yelped as he took her hand and pulled her to him, grinning wider.

"You're pretty," he slurred. "Wanna ditch whoever your friend is and come up to my room?" he asked, his hand around her waist, holding firmly. Maura felt her stomach churn uneasily at the sickly smell of rum on his breath.

"No, thank you," Maura stated, her voice firm. "Please let me go."

Before he could open his mouth to protest, however, a hand had reached out and grabbed the ear of the man, twisting painfully from behind. He let out a cry of pain and twisted around, that's when Maura noticed Jane was the culprit behind the ear tug, and she looked _mad._

"Keep your filthy hands off of my Maura," Jane growled, dangerously. Her eyes were flashing with anger as the gentleman stayed locked and fell to his knees when he didn't agree and she twisted harder. "Got that, Tommy?" she warned.

Maura's eyes widened, not so much at the surprise of discovering that the rude man was no doubt, Jane's elder brother, but at Jane's former words.

_She called me hers._ Maura felt her heart skip a beat as she watched Jane release Tommy Rizzoli.

"Beat it," she shoved him away, still pissed. But all the anger flew from her features as she turned back toward Maura. "I'm so sorry, Maura, I didn't realize that he was even here…" she took the woman in her arms, hugging her gently.

"I'm fine," Maura melted into the embrace, whispering into Jane's shoulder. Jane held her a bit longer than what was necessary, until a voice called out from the living area.

"Janie! Come play the piano!" another unfamiliar voice cheered. A chorus of "yeah's" and other catcalls and whistles sounded and Jane smirked, chuckling nervously.

She looked up to Maura and smiled, shyly.

"This is one of my least favorite holiday traditions," she murmured.

"C'mon, Janie!" Frankie practically grabbed his sister's arm and yanked her over toward the living room. Maura followed, abandoning her food, she wasn't truly that hungry anyway, and curiosity won out as she watched Jane approach the old upright piano over by the tree that Maura had seen before, but never knew it could still be played.

She recalled Jane mentioning once that she had been forced to take lessons as a little girl, but never bragged about being able to play. She watched as Jane familiarized herself with the keys, her back straight, posture was fine, she then smiled and looked over to Maura, motioning her over.

"C'mere," she called. Maura could not even protest before Frankie once again took control and pulled Maura over to sit by Jane, who laughed.

"If I am going to embarrass myself in front of you, you at least have to sit here so I don't feel so alone," she smiled. Maura grinned.

"Play away, then," Maura nodded and Jane took to the piano. Maura gazed in awe as Jane's nimble fingers flawlessly tapped the keys, playing out a smooth variety of Christmas songs from Winter Wonderland to Jingle Bells to Santa Claus is Comin' to Town. Along the way, Maura laughed at Frost and Frankie who downed one glass of eggnog after the next, and their already terrible attempt at singing along became more slurred with every drop.

The other Rizzoli members did not seem to mind, or were already used to tuning this sort of thing out, as all eyes were on Jane, and Maura watched as Jane's concentration was set onto the instrument, not missing a beat, she was fantastic. Maura watched Jane's strong, but gentle hands, recalling how they had held hers, many a time, in comfort and need, and how Jane seemed to always hate when people stared at her hands, because of the matching scars that adorned them from her nightmare encounter with Hoyt. Despite what Jane thought of herself, Maura thought that her hands, her whole persona was lovely, that of a true beautiful woman who didn't need makeup, or heels, or even nice clothes to look downright gorgeous, Jane could walk into a room, or even sit at this piano and do nothing but play, but the spirit of the room around her was a whole lot lighter with her presence.

Maura had taken to lessons as well when she was younger, but she had never truly been passionate about it like Jane seemed to be as she continued melody after melody.

Finally, Jane paused, and she rubbed over her hands, wincing in slight pain from the damaged tissue.

"You can stop, if you want, I can play a few tunes… maybe not Christmas-y though," Maura smiled, apologetically. Jane shook her head and smiled.

"No, I have one last song that I have to play," she stretched her fingers out once more and gently began to test one key, then another before she found the exact one she was looking for, soon enough a rather upbeat, jazzier melody began to pour from the piano strings.

Maura had never heard this melody before and waited in wonder at what it could be, but before she could anticipate hearing Frankie being tone-deaf, she was floored by Jane's own voice opening up and beginning to sing along whilst she played.

"_Take back the holly and mistletoe  
Silver bells on string...  
If I wrote a letter to Santa Claus  
I would ask for just one thing..._"

Jane's voice was a mixture of raspy staccato and a healthy alto that made Maura's heart swoon at the capacity of her words, as she listened on…

"_I don't need sleigh rides in the snow  
Don't want a Christmas that's blue  
Take back the tinsel, stockings, and bows  
'Cause all I want for Christmas is you...  
_

_I don't need expensive things  
They don't matter to me  
All that I want, can't be found  
Underneath the Christmas tree_"

Jane continued to surprise Maura at how high and low her voice could get within a single note. But moreover the words of the song began to tug at Maura's heartstrings as she listened to Jane sing them. Was Jane singing this song out of tradition, or was it merely out of pure want for Maura to hear her Christmas wish?

Maura shook her head, could it be possible Jane was feeling the same way as her?

"_You are the angel atop my tree  
You are my dream come true  
Santa can't bring me what I need  
'Cause all I want for Christmas is you  
_

_I don't need expensive things  
They don't matter to me  
All that I want, can't be found  
Underneath the Christmas tree_"

Jane paused; Maura was surprised by the sound of a harmonica from behind them as Frank, Sr. began to play a solo alongside his daughter's melody, giving it a truly jazzy tune. Maura turned her head back toward Jane and then found Jane looking at her as she sang the final verse.

"_You are the angel atop my tree  
You are my dream come true (dream come true)  
Santa can't bring me what I need_

_'Cause all I want for Christmas is you…  
_

_'Cause all I want for Christmas is you…  
_

_'Cause all I want for Christmas is you…_"

Maura could see the devotion of the song in Jane's eyes as she poured her heart out to Maura with lyrics. Maura felt her heart in her throat and found it nearly impossible to breathe. Was this real? Her head spun with the swell of emotion that slapped her in the face like a bad habit.

Jane's eyes softened and she smiled as she completed playing the piano. Maura shook with the intensity in her friends' gaze; Jane's body had most deffinitely begun to lean forward, her eyes dark with desire, but bright with passion, a tiny smile playing at the corner of her lips, Maura couldn't breathe. Panic set in and the blonde leapt from her seat, her eyes wild like a deer in the headlights. Without an explanation, she ran from the living area, ignoring her name being called out in confusion from Jane and the others who witnessed Maura's desperate escape.

Maura got outside and only when she got to the edge of the front porch did she realize she'd left her jacket and purse inside, she quickly covered her hands over her arms, shaking uncontrollably, but not from the cold. Tears welled up in her eyes as she struggled to breathe, the snow continued to fall, and everything around them was covered in the beautiful white powder.

_You imbecile! You nearly kissed her! You're her best friend! And in front of her family? WHAT were you thinking! _Maura knew very well that the human heart was impeccable of physically shattering into a million pieces, but as she doubled over to catch her breath, she wished her heart would just stop hurting as badly as it did right now.

_Jane... I need you, please… _Maura cried, her eyes spilling over with tears. _I don't care about money, or even these clothes or shoes, I just want Jane…_

"Maura," Jane's voice caused Maura to gasp at the raw intensity of its sound. She had not heard Jane step outside, but felt the woman behind her as Jane slipped her jacket over Maura's shoulders, she shuddered, visibly and Jane wrapped her arms around the petite doctors' waist.

"You should come inside; you'll catch your death out here…" Jane breathed, the heat of it brushing across Maura's neck, whether intentional or not, caused Maura to moan.

"Jane…" she glanced skyward; praying to whatever God was listening that someone would help vanquish this hurt. But then Jane's mouth moved to the base of her neck, pressing the softest, most subtle kisses at the base of her spine and Maura came undone.

"I don't know what it is I've done to hurt you, Maura," Jane breathed, her voice shaky as she fought to remain in control of her fear. "But I love you too much to lose you… please... dont leave, don't ever leave, just... stay with me-"

Maura felt her heart catch and found it impossible to breathe, she could no longer deny this woman; twisting in Jane's arms, giving the woman no room for argument or response, Maura pressed her lips to Jane's, both women moaned into the contact as the electricity fired up between them, and Jane wasted no time in teasing Maura's lips with her tongue, before gaining entrance and turning the kiss passionate.

Soon enough, however, air became a physical necessity and Maura ended the kiss, pressing two to three more pecks on Jane's swollen lips as she leaned her forehead against the other woman's, breathing raggedly.

"Wow," Jane mused.

"Jane, I-" Maura closed her eyes tightly, working the nerves that caused her voice to die off in her throat. "I love you," Maura shook. "I love you and I only want you to be happy," Maura continued.

"That's a relief, for a moment I thought you only kissed me because of the mistletoe," Jane cracked. And sure enough, hanging on the railing above the front porch where they stood was a sprig of mistletoe. Maura frowned at Jane's laughter, but couldn't help but smile somewhat heartedly at her friends' antics.

"Jane…" Maura sighed, placing her head back on Jane's shoulder.

"Maura, I love you, too," Jane assured the blonde, rubbing her back in gentle circles. "I've loved you since I first laid eyes on you, it just took me a while to finally come to terms with it," she made a quick save at Maura's incredulous look. Jane took Maura's hands in hers and laced their fingers again, pressing a soft kiss to the nimble digits.

"I won't lie, Maura, _this_… this is new to me, and I am scared-" Jane took a shaky breath. "I've never been so crazy about a person in my life… I just don't want to screw this up."

Maura released one of Jane's hands and moved it up to cup her cheek, seeing the brave, hardened detective, her best friend, so open for the very first time, all of Jane's carefully constructed walls were gone and Maura looked into Jane's soul for the very first time, and was breathless with the raw need and unending love that rested there.

"I'm scared, too, Jane," Maura breathed. "None of this… I've never – it just doesn't make any sense how much I find myself _needing_ you." She leaned forward and pressed her lips to Jane's once more, reveling in the softness of Jane's mouth and what's more, the tenderness in Jane's return of the kiss. "All I know is how I am feeling, how I've felt for many months now… I just love you, Jane Rizzoli."

"I can't buy you nice things… I can't promise I'll never upset you or hurt your feelings or get angry with you... but I want to try and make things better when I _do _do those things," Jane reasoned, warily. "I want to make you happy."

"I don't care about nice things and I would never expect perfection," Maura whispered. "_You_ are the only one who can make me happy, but the only thing I care to know is that you love me like I love you."

"I do," Jane promised. "Very. Very. Much." She punctuated each word with a kiss.

"Merry Christmas, Jane," Maura sealed her own words with a kiss, having gotten her Christmas wish, she smiled into Jane's mouth, excited for the Christmas' they would share that were still to come, knowing she would always remember this one in particular. A very Merry Christmas, indeed.

* * *

**AN:** Yayyy for Christmas and Rizzles! I hope that everyone enjoyed the ficlet, and I'm almost counting on the reviews that will be questioning the song that won the poll for this which was "All I Want for Christmas(is you)" by Vince Vance and the Valiants, NOT Mariah Carey, lol. if you're curious its a VERY wonderful song and I suggest downloading it just to hear Lynda Layne's voice, *swoon*. please be kind and remember to leave your Bard a friendly feedback! :) Happy Holidays, fans!


End file.
